I'm going to start this month's newsletter with a writers joke; in fact it's the only writers joke I know so apologies to all the GCWA members who have already heard it. Here we go:

A writer died and went to heaven to be met by St Peter at the pearly gates.
     'You have two choices,' said St Peter. 'You can either spend the rest of your days in writers' heaven or the rest of your days in writers' hellbut before you decide, I will give you a tour of both.'
     So they stepped into a lift and travelled down to the depths of hell. When the doors opened, the writer was met by a fierce raging heat and the site of row upon row of writers chained to desks and being forced to write by ugly demons yielding whips and chains while flames and brimstone spewed around them.
     The writer backed into the lift, and with a gentle knowing smile, St Peter pressed the up button.
The lift travelled up until it reached the dizzy heights of heaven. But when the doors opened, the writer was met by a fierce raging heat and the site of row upon row of writers chained to desks and being forced to write by ugly demons yielding whips and chains while flames and brimstone spewed around them.
     'But it's exactly the same as writers hell!' yelled the writer turning to St Peter.
     'Yes,' said St Peter, 'but here your work gets published!'

Good news for all our authors who have the their books listed in our Global POD and Ebook Distribution program, our global reach is expanding rapidly and now offers the untapped potential of over 3000 of Russia's largest book retailers, and 125 million English-language speakers in India! We've got you covered so what are what are you waiting for...? Go sell some books!

SHARING LIFE-SAVING KNOWLEDGE ON NATURAL HEALTH

Katrina Ellis is one of our successful authors. Her books were actually created following a very traumatic health scare a rare and aggressive form of ovarian cancer which had spread. However, this courageous lady managed to cure herself through natural health.Here she shares her story and gives advice to other authors who also would like to share their special gift with the world.

Katrina is a world renowned 'Natural Health Specialist' who is committed to creating better health,happiness and inner contentment to all.

Tell us your story:
Eighteen years ago, I was given the honour of working for the deputy prime minister of Thailand in his prestigious health retreat, Chiva-Som.  Here I consulted to celebrities from all over the world and used every health tool in my arsenal to help improve the health of others.

However, after many years of living in this beautiful paradise, I was exposed to a deadly, toxic chemical.  Within 3 months my belly began to blow up, and in a short time, it looked as if I was ten months pregnant.  Itraveled the world looking for answers, and after visiting top specialists I was told that I had every other ailment aside from cancer. By this time the mass in my belly was so big, I needed a pillow to support its weight while sleeping.  Finally a doctor agreed to remove the mass, and when I woke up, I was told that I had a very rare and aggressive form of ovarian cancer. Due to several misdiagnoses, the cancer had spread and the prognosis was poor.  I was informed that aggressive chemotherapy was my only chance to extend my life.

At the age of 28 I was scared and afraid of dying, yet I had also become wiser in my journey. I drew on my experience as a naturopath and instead of choosing chemotherapy as my sole form of treatment, I decided to incorporate complementary therapies to improve my chance of survival. After almost 90 hours of intensive chemotherapy, I chose to stop treatment, as I now knew it was doing more harm than good.

Using all of my courage and the knowledge I had gained in my career, I employed the help of nature's foods, herbs, medicines, cancer-fighting supplements and the power of my mind to heal my body. The doctors told me I would be a lucky girl if I saw the end of that year that was 15 years ago. They also told me it was unlikely that I would have children.  With the aid of natural medicine, I proved everyone wrong and I naturally gave birth to a beautiful boy and girl.

1. When were your books published? 
The first edition of Shattering the Cancer Myth was published in around 1999 with another publisher. I re-published it five years later, and then finally with Publicious a few years ago.  Raw Addiction was first published 2 to 3 years ago.

2. How did your first book contribute to your business? In other words, how did you use it as a promotional tool to attract clients and raise your profile? What did your business look like before the book, and how did it change after the launch of the book?
I was very busy to begin with.  However, the first book increased my consultations and raised my professional profile in the natural medicine/holistic health industry.  I was already busy, but it made me even busier and I then began exploring my public speaking, conferences and similar avenues to share my knowledge.  The books have allowed me to reach more people about the importance of spiritual, mental and physical health through good foods, positive thoughts and other motivational tools.

3. Do you have plans for another book in the near future?
I actually have 3 new books almost completed.  I am always writing in between consulting and developing my naturopath/holistic medicine business.  I am so busy with consultations and I am in the process of creating a professional supplement and consulting centre so I have just quickly put my completion of my books aside for now.  As soon as I open my new centre in the next 2 months, I will work on finished these amazing new books.

4. What is your advice to people in your position, who are considering writing a book? In other words, someone who has experienced something incredible and now want to share their story with the world? What would you suggest they consider as a topic - if they are not sure? A biography or DIY style? And how do you suggest to them that they use their book as a promotional tool?
My advice is to always write from the heart and to write something you are completely passionate about.  If you have a message or an idea that can help change the world or alter people's lives for the better, through your own story, then it will be easy to release these ideas from thoughts onto paper.  For me, my books encompass who I am as a person, what I love and how I can help people and this is also my profession.  If you are not a great writer, there are some fantastic ghost writers that can help you to translate your ideas onto paper.

5. Have you heard from people who have read your book/s and conquered cancer, like you did?
I receive letters, emails and phone calls nearly every day from all over the world from people who have read my book and received inspiration to beat their own forms of cancer which I find completely inspiring and amazing.  It makes me feel joy and happiness inside to know that my story could have such a great impact in other peoples' lives.

6. How does YOUR future look? What are your aspirations moving forward?
I will continue to help people through providing true, honest and life-changing information.  In my profession this is not easy as I experience many challenges by way of politics, media and misinformation but to me the TRUTH is the most important.  And the best way to present true information is through writing and publishing.  Andy and Publicious have allowed me to do this and I would say publishing with them, compared with other large publishing companies, has been the best experience.  I will always consult as I love helping people change their wellness and mental health and I love making a difference in people's lives. 

Purchase Katrina's inspiring books here:
http://katrinaellis.com.au/shop/

Insurrection  (Book 2 Soliloquy's Labyrinth Series)

Driven by greed their need to manipulate has quickly become my greatest advantage. We were pawns in the silent wars until we started breaking the rules we never realized we had been following. The interferon's puppet mastery is permanently disrupted by our awakening to the truth. No longer able to reach the masses without risk of discovery and resulting consequences to bear, they reluctantly dance the steps to my rhythm of influence now.Let them learn their lesson and learn it well.

Control is the ultimate illusion.

This is Truth's fifth book with Publicious, purchse your copy here

TappitidooNew Friends

Hi, I'm Wigwag the BunyipTappitidoo!
And I'm here in this forest to welcome you
Come and meet my fun loving friends
They all have their own special message to send
There's Miss Bilby and Corey the Cockatoo
A grumpy old rock and a kangaroo
A very cheeky lizard; he's called Skoot
With the Tappitidoo Band, you'll have a hoot
Come on, have fun and dance to the beat
Sing along and tap with your feet
We ALL welcome you
As you enter the Forest of Tappitidoo!

6 - 8 years - purchse your copy here

Congratulations to Publicious Author A.B. Patterson, Harry's World has just won a Bronze Medal in the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards (category for Best Fiction from Australia & New Zealand).

And this closely followed Harry's World being named as a Finalist in the 2016 Beverly Hills International Book Awards USA (category for Crime Fiction).  

News from Publicious author Nelle Frances:

Sensory Detective Workshop

NAPLAN  Disability Adjustments -  May 10th to May 13th.

Click here for a sneak preview of the workshop.

Give your book marketing a boost with our new book publicity book Author Launch Pad by our very own book publicist Kerry McDuling. Discover the professionals' secrets for effective book marketing/publicity.

Publishing your own book and becoming an author is only part of the journey. If you want your book to be read, and possibly even become a bestseller, you need to promote it. Learn the book publicity tips from the professionals, and do it yourself.  Many book authors have been incredibly successful with generating publicity for their books; proving that you don't need to spend money on a book publicity expert to do the same thing that you can probably do better.

Available in print and ebook, you can get your copy here

If you haven't already, check out our new book marketing/publicity services here

How to Start A Blog

A step-by-step guide on starting a personal or business blog, including how to choose a blog name, set up your blogging software, and ideas your first post

CREATIVE WRITING CONTESTS WITH NO ENTRY FEES ...

Literary Awards and Competitions in Australia

Make sure your books are listed on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/

If you have some book resources to share please feel free to send them to us and we'll add them to this list.

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